Why Asuka and Mandy Rose will steal the show at WWE Fastlane

While this Sunday’s WWE Fastlane looks like a predictable card, there could be a match that steals the show — and it’s for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Let’s face it, there’s not much to be excited about going into WWE Fastlane. The company would be better suited having only one pay-per-view between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, that being Elimination Chamber.

But alas, we have two, and now Fastlane is upon us this week. This show feels like the definition of thrown together at the last minute as we only had four confirmed matches going into the Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live go-home shows this week.

With the card now more fleshed out, one match stands out as one that could steal the show. Some would argue that should be a shoo-in for Becky Lynch versus Charlotte Flair, but in a match that will no doubt focus heavily on Lynch’s knee injury and an outcome that’s already very obvious (a triple threat at WrestleMania), there’s not a whole lot of intrigue there.

But, we do have two women from SmackDown Live who are pretty much forgotten about on the brand they belong to while the WWE is solely focused on Ronda Rousey and the Raw Women’s Championship. The blue brand’s champion, Asuka, has been very much overlooked, and that’s not right, especially when she has a title match set for this Sunday at Fastlane against Mandy Rose.

Asuka, who tapped out Lynch to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble, has only been on television twice since: Once to lose to Rose, and once to attack Rose and Sonya Deville on SmackDown‘s go-home show this week.

Rose, on the other hand, has been featured often thus far in 2019. Highlights include a feud with Naomi, a fantastic showing with her tag team partner Deville in the Elimination Chamber and almost capturing the WWE Women’s tag team championships and, as noted above, getting a clean pinfall win over Asuka to warrant her title match on Sunday.

Even though she’s the champion, Asuka has to be upset about the lack of screen time she has received since the Royal Rumble. And even more than that, the Empress of Tomorrow has something to prove and is going to out of her way to do that this Sunday at Fastlane.

Asuka and Rose are no strangers to each other, having worked together from their earlier days in NXT. There is no doubt that both women are going into this match with something to prove. The SmackDown women’s division has been severely overlooked since the Royal Rumble, with the would-be top contenders for Asuka’s championship spending more time on Raw than their own brand.

If Asuka and Rose are given enough time on Fastlane this Sunday these two can certainly set their match apart from everyone else. With the road to WrestleMania being all about the Raw Women’s Championship right now it’s time for the blue brand to remind everyone that they shouldn’t be overlooked any longer.

Unlike the Lynch-Flair match, Asuka-Rose could go either way. One shouldn’t be surprised to see God’s Greatest Creation win the SmackDown Women’s Championship with help from Deville, setting up a rematch with Asuka for the title at WrestleMania.

https://twitter.com/WWE_MandyRose/status/1103132512195407873

At the end of the day, a contrast of styles can make for a great wrestling match. This has all the makings to be a great one if WWE allows Asuka and Rose to tell a great story and get the audience to invest in these women in the process. If everything mentioned here is allowed to happen, these two will have the match of the night.

Thanks to the current storylines heading into WrestleMania, Raw now has all the top stars of the women’s division. It’s time to let others step up and shine in 2019. Asuka has proven time and time again if she’s given the ball she will deliver. Rose was given the chance to do the same in the Elimination Chamber and showed the world that she is ready for this opportunity. If given a chance to prove it to the audience on Sunday, this match could steal the show.